What’s Ahead for E-Commerce Development in 2016?

2015 was a busy year for web development as both technicians and designers focused on bringing style and functionality to cross-platform websites. As users switched from desk and laptop computers to tablets and phones with smaller screens, developers took advantage of improvements in bandwidth and data compression to develop sites that were both attractive and user-friendly across the wide variety of devices that came into use.

While many of the solutions were elegant and effective, the rush to adapt to the new world of multi-platform access led to a sameness in site design. This brought a certain degree of familiarity and comfort to users, but it also made standing out in the crowd more difficult, especially when it came to search engine rankings for ecommerce sites that were product-intensive.

We asked key designers and developers at the Unleaded Group how they planned to boost client performance in 2016. They all came to one conclusion: content will be the single most important driver of success in the coming year. Here’s what they said.

Unique Content is Key to Top Rankings

With search engines looking deeper into content for ranking, sites relying on vendor-provided product data make it hard to stand out. “With content living together on the same domain as the products, articles and content that help the consumer make a buying decision is one of the most powerful tools in the SEO toolkit,” according to Unleaded president Jarod Clark.

Engaged Shoppers Lead to More Sales

Content that’s interesting and helpful makes customers more confident in their buying decisions. “Unique product content is the best thing an ecommerce retailer can use sell products,” says digital marketing specialist Marty Foy. “Expert advice and guidance vs slick sales copy will do more for product sales because informational context is what the customer needs to make a buying decision.”

Originality Will Drive Success

As multi-platform design matures, reliance on formulaic approaches will lose their effectiveness. “Fresh, custom-designed elements along with unique, well-written, and purposeful copy will be the key to both high search rankings and getting shoppers to buy,” Clark says. “By combining a robust content management system with industry-leading ecommerce platforms like Magento, we can build unique custom front-end interfaces that will make our clients’ sites stand out in the crowd.”

New Analytics Give Valuable Guidance

“Content is king when it comes to both search engine ranking and customer buying decisions,” says Unleaded’s Digital Marketing Manager Leon Averbukh. “Raw data from services like Google Analytics are important, but new techniques such as heat mapping have evolved that give us a detailed view of how customers behave on a site. This lets us see what’s working and where we can improve both the content and design to deliver superior results to our clients.”

The Unleaded Group can help ensure that your company’s website delivers all its potential during the coming year. Our design and development teams will make your site unique and user-friendly across all devices. Our Optimization and Content Management specialists will make sure your site is content-rich to drive up its rankings and build revenue gains with our exclusive Agile Marketing techniques.

We are a welcoming group of unique, passionate professionals. We value our dynamic and inclusive environment that fosters a positive atmosphere of acceptance and drives our ability to work cooperatively and productively with one another. Our people are as unique as our websites. Our individual differences are the source of our collective strength.